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Thomas Williams

Professor Campbell

UWRT 1104

11/08/2018

Genetically Modified Organisms: How they affect us.

What are genetically modified organisms? A GMO is an organism whose genes have

been engineered in order to obtain the desired traits of biological products. Iin genetic

engineering, technologies produce organisms whose genomes have been specifically altered

usually by the inclusion of genes from other species of organisms that have traits which wouldn’t

be able to be obtained through selective breeding. GMOs are produced through scientific

methods which are recombinant DNA technology and reproductive cloning. In reproductive

cloning the nucleus of a cell is extracted from a cell of an organism to be cloned and is inserted

into the egg of a host. The result is a generation of offspring that is genetically identical to the

donor. Oon the other hand, recombinant DNA technology involves the insertion of one or more

genes from an organism into the DNA of another. GMOs have become a part of everyday life,

they are used in agriculture, medicine, research, and environmental management. GMOs benefit

society in many ways however, the topic of GMOs is very controversial in some parts of the

world.

Genetically modified organisms were first approved for consumption in the United States

in 1994, and by 2015 more than 90 percent of corn, cotton, and soybeans in the United States

were in some way affected by GMOs. Genetically modified organisms can seriously increase
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crop yields and even reduce the use of insecticides. For example, in the United States there were

many areas that were introduced to plants such as potatoes, cotton, and corn that contained a

gene from the bacteria,: Bacillus thuringiensis. This bacterium occurs naturally in the gut of

caterpillars of many types of butterflies and moths, Bacillus thuringiensis has a gene that

produces a natural pesticide called Bt toxin, which was inserted into the genes of the planted

potatoes, cotton, and corn. A study in Arizona, shows that using the Bt toxin, gave farmers about

a five5 percent increase in yield and a $25-$65 cost reduction per acre.

Genetically modified organism can offer a great amount of benefits to society, however

there are some potential risks involved with them, which has sparked a controversy in the food

industry. Critics of GMOs warn about the possible dangers they can pose to human health. Since

the 1990s countries have been addressing the concerns by implementing GMO labeling laws. In

the United States, GMOs are not required to be labeled, even though it was heavily debated in

both state and national levels. GMO critics mainly focus their concerns on the unknown risks to

food safety, but despite the concerns from some of the population the United States Food and

Drug Administration concluded that the consumption of GMOs is safe. However this has not

change the opinion of a lot of people.But that hasn’t changed the opinion of a lot of people.

Some believe that genetically modified organisms have a negative impact on the

environment. According to the “Non-GMO Project,” more than 80 percent of all genetically

modified crops have been engineered for herbicide tolerance. However, however they stated that

the use of toxic herbicides such as roundup, has increased dramatically since GMOs were first

introduced. They also believe that gGenetically modified crops are also responsible for the

appearance of superweeds and superbugs which can’t be killed by the standard roundup. One of
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the largest concerns from the Non-GMO Project, is that there aren’t any long term studies on

genetically modified organisms, which for some is a scary thought not knowing what the future

could hold with the majority of our food sources coming from GMOs and people don’t fully

understand their long term health affectseffects that could potentially have a negative affecteffect

on the agriculture industry and society as a whole.

Even though genetically modified organisms haven’t shown any proven threats to society

there are 64 countries that enforce consumer “right to know laws” for genetically engineered

foods. The United States isn’t one of them. Despite the fact that there aren’t any proven threats

posed by GMOs, the laws requiring GMO labeling are purely for giving the consumer open and

accurate information about what is in the food they’re eating. Global labeling laws are springing

up across the world because people believe that citizens have the right to know exactly what they

are putting into their bodies; the food manufactures shouldn’t be afraid to label exactly what their

food products contain.

ItsIt's hard to prove whether genetically modified organisms can be 100 percent safe, but

if you think about it, there isn’t anything that can be proven to be 100 percent safe. There have

been thousands of studies and over 20 years of consumption by both humans and animals, and

neither have produced any evidence that genetically modified organisms represent any kind of

unusual health risk. But still there are critics still out there holding onto the idea that there are

unknown threats that will be brought out in our future.

In the United States, the regulation of genetically modified organisms is based on

“substantial equivalence”, meaning that the nutritional content of genetically engineered crops
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and non-genetically engineered crops that it came from are the same. Lots of people wonder why

the FDA doesn’t perform clinical trailstrials on GMOs the same way they do for drugs. A major

argument that lives behind this belief is that since drugs are altering something in humans, its

very important to know a drug can produce any negative side effects. Genetically modified foods

are written to replace non-genetically modified foods, they are designed to impact human health,

such as vitamin-A enriched rice. Some people believe that these products should be tested on

humans the same way drugs are, only because there is no science to prove that there won’t be

any long-term side effects of GMOs.

Genetically modified crops were first planted in 1994 in tomatoes, by 1996 the area of

genetically modified crops grew to 1.6 million hectares, and by 2012 the global planted area

reached over 160 million hectares. At the global level, genetically modified foods have had a

significant impact on farming income, in 2012 the farming benefit was $18.8 billion. Which is

equivalent to adding six percent to the value of global production in soybeans, canola, and

cotton. Genetically modified foods have also made huge contributions to the increase of global

production, which a lot of people believe is helping fight the war on hunger and will help combat

the growing population.